Adrian Branch and Todd Harris called last night’s WAC showdown between Nevada and Utah State on ESPN2. Being the avid college basketball fan that I am, I decided why not watch my third game of the night (Michigan State-Minnesota and Northwestern-Wisconsin had my attention earlier). I’m semi-watching the game, more listening to it while doing work. And then I hear an exchange that left me baffled.

AB: We’ve been trying to identify who Luke Babbit plays like and I’m going to give you a name that wasn’t too far, Adam Morrison. He’s got that Adam Morrison thing; his own unique flavor. Got the hair shagging a little bit, different from last year. But you know what, he works you over especially when he gets to that free throw line.

TH: I’ve got another name for you. Last year when he was rocking the short clean-cut haircut: Jimmy Chitwood from “Hoosiers.”

AB: Who?

TH: Jimmy Chitwood!

AB: Where is that from?

TH: “Hoosiers.”

AB: Where?

TH: You don’t remember the movie “Hoosiers?” Gene Hackman, the picket fence, ‘I’ll make that shot.’

AB: Nah, nah. Sorry man.

TH: How do you not know that shot? You’ve got a NBA world championship ring on your finger and you don’t know “Hoosiers?”

Then three minutes later Babbit hits another 3-pointer and the conversation comes full circle:

AB: He’s a natural offensive scorer.

TH: Say it with me, ‘Jimmy Chitwood, I’ll make that shot.’

AB: (laughing) I was just pulling your chain. I wanted to see your reaction.

TH: I knew you knew that movie.

Basically after Branch’s initial gaffe, someone in the production truck was like, “Hey Todd, toss Adrian a softball about ‘Hoosiers,’ so we don’t get e-mails about what an idiot he is.”

Now I know “Hoosiers” is fictitious, so not knowing its details won’t affect an announcers analysis of the game. But how can a 49-year old basketball lifer not know who Jimmy Chitwood is?

I have to admit that even despite attending Indiana University, it took me three years into college to finally watch “Hoosiers.” But what do you expect? I was a midget from South Florida who never touched a basketball until arriving in Bloomington. I didn’t eat, sleep and breathe basketball as I suspect Branch did.

I mean my roommate and I already have complained about Branch before, so while I shouldn’t be surprised how low he can dip into the depths of suckdom, this certainly reinforces our initial analysis: Adrian Branch is a moron.